Carrying luggage on a Brompton folding bike

I’m sure many people like myself have wondered how to get enough luggage on a Brompton for a couple of weeks touring.

Last weekend I went away for a few days with friends and was able to try out various options.

Here Andrew of Travellingtwo has a bar bag, Radical design Brompton “Rack sack” and a Cougar 1 trailer to transport little Luke. The trailer is also a buggy once detached from the bike.

I went for a combination of Brompton C bag at the front and my own solution at the rear by using an Ortlieb pannier plus a roll bag, total baggage space about 50-60L. This combination was a little wobbly at the rear sometimes and maybe I should of used fixed straps rather than elastic bungies. Apart from that if felt no different to ride than without baggage. This is a fairly cheap option for me as I already had all these bags. With a small modification of the Brompton rear rack the Ortlieb hooks can be hung on the rack.

In train mode it was fairly easy to carry this little lot. With easy rollers on the rear rack the bike can be pushed fairly easily around.

This option means the Brompton is still very light, no baggage or racks on the bike and is therefore lighter to carry and more mobile for zooming around town. The handling was fine though you have to consider the extra lengh and try not to fill the 100L 🙂

The trailer is cleverly made to also be used as a hand trolley to drag around rather than carrying it. The clever quick disconnect coupling means the Brompton can easily be parked without disconnecting the trailer.

Radical design have also recently brought out the Cyclone chubby which is wide enough to carry the Brompton inside.

The only downside of this system is slightly more weigh (about 2-3kg I guess) plus the slightly higher chance of punctures(though not much because there’s less weight on each wheel). The only thing I don’t like about all the Radical products (Brompton bags and the trailers) is that the fabric is not waterproof. But I guess with such a small production set up to go waterproof would make them even more expensive than they already are. They do provide a lightweight waterproof cover with their bags and trailers though.

Another baggage option which keeps you fairly mobile is to attach a backpack to the rear rack. This is the solution the folks from Pathlesspedaled use.

All options have their merits and draw backs.

And for those interested on how I packed my gear for a week away, click on this photo to see the tags.

Update : Using an Orlieb pannier on a brompton rear rack:

As requested by a few people here is a little extra info on how I attach my Ortlieb pannier to my Brompton rack. I’ve added a piece of threaded steel (M5) to the rear of the rack where the wheels usually attach.

I also reversed the pannier hook “rail/attachment bar”

This way once the pannier is hooked in it can’t slide backwards, the downside of this is that the pannier is attached quite far back and will tip over if not tied down properly. This does give excellent heel clearance while cycling though (which is often a problem with other baggage solutions).

Initially I used elastic bungies to keep the pannier in place but this is still a little wobbly, its better to use some kind of webbing to tie it down firmly.

And thats that, good luck finding out your own solution to Carrying baggage on a Brompton 🙂

14 Comments

This folding touring lark is really interesting. But Bromptons are seriously expensive. There are other options, like the Tern I’ve been testing over the last few months. I’ve just published a big write-up here. It carries full-size panniers and a big barbag with space for more. Check it out if you’re on a slimmer budget!

Yup, would agree that the Tern and also the Dahon are alot cheaper and probably better touring bikes but I chose the Brommy as its the better folder 🙂 But at €550 second hand its still crazy expensive. But I bought it primarily as a replacement for a car so its still cheap as chips really 🙂

I took a 1,000 mile bike ride in 1975, averaging about 65 miles a day, mostly camping along the way. Sometimes, staying in 7$ a night hotels with one television in the lobby. – The bicentennial celebration had begun and I saw covered wagons and people walking across country from Boston to San Francisco. I’ll be 60 in July and that bike trip was certainly one of the high points of my life.
Sharon

I was just wondering if you could say a little more about the small modification that you made to the Brompton rack/frame to allow the Ortlieb pannier clip to fit or if you have any pictures? Also did you have to lengthen the clip at all and use additional bungies?

Thanks Shane. I have just picked up a new Brompton (2015 model) and was very interested in how you fitter your ortlieb panniers. I tried the same, but unfortunately Brompton have changed the back wheels on the rack so the pannier doesn’t fit in any more. I will have one more go at putting spacers on the ortlieb hooks and see how that goes, but not as simple as putting the M5 bar through the back parcel and changing the hook on the ortliebs around the other way.

Hi
Shane cycles
I have read your blog and as got me inspired about touring,,, I have not rode a bike in years but with fuel prices going through the roof and living 7 miles from work and having a family I have decided to ride to work but with limeted space at home I have decided to go with the folding systems been looking for a while and tried a thew out but the brompton comes out on top for me in which I can get on the ride to work scheme… so im asking do you have any tips for my first brompton and what gearing system would you recomend ? Many thanks Phil and in future I want to go touring

Hi Phil, For a 7 mile commute a Brommy would be perfect 🙂 I like the simplicity of a 2 speed but if you’re just starting again maybe that wouldn’t be so good for your knees. Maybe consider one of the internal hub options to keep maintenance low.

The most important thing will be to do some test rides to see which model handlebars work best for you.